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If, in prior years, you reported your spouse's dividends on your own return and wish to do it again this year in program, you should know that the program will handle the dividend transfer automatically. It is better for you to report all the taxable dividends received by your spouse from taxable Canadian corporations so long as you can make better use of the dividend tax credit. However, you can only transfer the dividends if this enables you to get or increase your credit for having a spouse or common-law partner. Simply enter the dividends in the file of the person receiving them, then let the program optimize both tax returns automatically.

In some cases, it may indeed be better for you to report all the taxable dividends your spouse or common-law partner received from taxable Canadian corporations. You can only do this if including the dividends in your income will enable you to claim or increase your claim for the spouse or common-law partner amount (line 303 of schedule 1). If you use this option, you may be able to take better advantage of the dividend tax credit. Enter the dividends in the file of the taxpayer who received them. As one of its tax optimization features, the program will determine if your family is eligible to minimize tax in this manner.

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